Abused
by Grace Fury
Summary: Remus Lupin has a hard home life and needs Hogwarts to escape from it.


**Abused**

Remus Lupin was a burden to his parents and he had been since he was six years old. He was quite fine with that because it had been drummed into him since that fatal day, so much so that he believed it too. Every day was the same routine for Remus; he'd get up, hideaway in his room with the tattered books that he'd acquired, go downstairs for his one meal of the day, get knocked and hit by his father and then go back up to bed. Same day, every day, but Remus didn't mind that, in fact, he thought he deserved it. His mother was cold toward him and his father outright hated him, but, to make it easier, Remus just reminded himself that he was a disgrace and that he should expect nothing less. You see, Remus was bitten when he was six but it wasn't just any bite. Fenrir Greyback, the one that bit Remus, was a werewolf and thus, Remus is now a werewolf too. His parents despised his condition because it required lots of security, forethought and protection which, in their eyes, was too much of an ask. Although Remus didn't mind what his father did, he obviously didn't particularly enjoy it and so when, on March 10th, he received his letter of admission for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry he was absolutely elated. From that moment, Remus counted the days until September 1st when he'd finally get away from the harm at home.

When September 1st finally rolled around, much to Remus' excitement, he and his mother made their way to the busy King's Cross Station and breeched the barrier between the muggle platform and the one for wizards. It was 10:50am when Remus got on to platform 9 ¾ so he put his large travel case on the train along with his owl, Casa, ready to board the train when the time came. He stood with his mother on the platform for the remaining 10 minutes and not once did she look at him. In one way, Remus was hurt to know that his own mother couldn't stand the sight of him but in another, he knew he was a monster and that he didn't deserve the acknowledgement of his parents. When the time arrived to board the train he said a goodbye to his mother, which she nodded to in reply, and then stepped foot on to the steaming, scarlet train along with hundreds of other students ready to make his journey to Hogwarts.

After a few minutes of searching, Remus found an empty compartment at the very end of the train so he slid open the door and took a seat inside. He pulled out one of his favourite books, 'Hogwarts: A history' and began reading it for what must have been at least the fourth time. Remus loved reading about this magical school, a school so great that all the best wizards and witches went there. He hadn't been told much about the school but because he read about it he knew that there were four houses and they each had different traits. The poor boy wasn't sure which house he'd be sorted into as he didn't particularly feel he'd fit into any of them. Alas, he decided that he'd just have to wait until he got there to see where the hat put him. He knew a little about Quidditch although he didn't reckon he'd fancy playing much and he had read all about the headmaster of Hogwarts, Albus Dumbledore. Already Remus could tell that he was going to like the headmaster as in all the tales he had been described as a kind, gentle, fair yet powerful man. Lost in his thoughts Remus barely heard the door to his compartment open. He looked up and saw two boys stood, staring back at him.

'Hi, please can we sit in here? Only, everywhere else is full and we've been told by the prefects that we have to find somewhere to sit,' one boy said. He looked to be a first year like Remus however he was quite tall for eleven. His dark brown hair was sleek and shiny and was cut in a rough but styled way. His eyes were dark but kind and he looked like he was a trusted person.

'Er, well?' the second boy asked. He was a bit shorter, looked to be the same age as the first boy, and had dark unkempt hair that stuck out at all angles. Dark, round glasses framed his hazel eyes and he too looked like a person who could be relied upon.

Remus realised he hadn't answered and just gave them a nod as a response. As nice as these boys looked, Remus was never really one for talking and he couldn't gather the courage to give them a proper reply.

'Hi, I'm Sirius Black by the way,' the first boy spoke.

'Oh and I'm James Potter. And you are?' the second asked.

Remus' eyes went wide with realising that they were asking him to talk and he just about choked out an answer, 'Remus,' he whispered.

'Ah cool, Remus what?' asked Sirius.

'Lupin,' he whispered again.

The boys didn't try to speak to him after that, instead they had their own conversation and Remus was grateful. He hated conversations, especially with people he didn't know but luckily the boys seemed to pick up on the fact that he wasn't a talker and left him to his book.

Some hours later, Remus was in his robes and the train was just pulling up to Hogsmeade station, not too far from Hogwarts. He was all too quick to jump up from his seat the second the train stopped and made his way out of the compartment leaving a bewildered James and Sirius behind. Remus hurried to the nearest exit and stepped out on to the platform only to be greeted by a huge man with a black, scraggly beard and a large brown overcoat. The man was shouting for the first years so Remus made his way through the sea of students and stood just in front of the tall man. When the first years had congregated, the man introduced himself,

'Hello there! I'm Rubeus Hagrid, gamekeeper at Hogwarts but you can all call me Hagrid. Now, we'll be gettin' ta Hogwarts over the Black Lake on the boats so all of yeus follow me.'

They made their way to the gravel shores where Remus laid eyes upon a small fleet of wooden boats. They were told that it were to be four to a boat and so Remus scrambled on to one quickly as to not be left behind. Only when he was settled in the boat did he look around to see who accompanied him.

'Oh look, it's you again. Hi Remus!' James said cheerfully with a small wave.

'Hi Remus!' Sirius also said.

Remus managed a small smile and a wave in reply and went to turn around again, as he was seated at the front of the boat, when he noticed the fourth boy in the boat with them. This boy was a small boy in height, mousy looking, quite plump with short blond hair and vivid blue eyes. He looked quite shy and so Remus didn't say anything, not that he could have anyway, but unfortunately for this boy, James and Sirius had spotted him too.

'Hell there, what's your name? I'm Sirius, this is James and, as you may have already guessed, this is Remus.'

'Oh I'm Peter, Peter Pettigrew,' the boy said, a frightened look upon face.

'Nice to meet you Peter,' James said, 'well, you three seem like nice guys, I hope we're in the same house!'

The first years were herded into the Great Hall by a professor in an emerald green robe who introduced herself as Professor McGonagall. A small, three-legged stool was put in front of the long staff table, in front of the whole school and a hat was placed upon it. Of course none of the first years really knew what the hat was for and so they were all a bit baffled however the professor soon explained,

'Welcome first years. This here is Hogwarts' sorting hat. When I call your name you will sit on this stool, I will place the hat on top of your head and the hat will decide where to place you. From there, you will remove the hat and join your house at their respective table. Clear? Very well, let the sorting commence.'

Remus was attentive at the beginning of the sorting as it was all still very exciting. He saw the boy he'd met earlier, Sirius, be sorted into Gryffindor, much to people's surprise, but after that, when the novelty had worn off, he soon switched off only to be brought back to reality when he heard his own name called.

He made his way to the front of the group and climbed up the steps. His legs felt heavier as the stool got closer and closer. He turned and sat down and only then did he realise how many students attended Hogwarts. The sea of eyes in front of him was very frightening and he soon wondered what he was doing in a place like that. However, before he could ponder it any further, the hat was placed on his head and slid over his eyes. Remus jumped as he heard a quiet voice in his ear,

'Well, what have we got here then?'

Remus realised it was the hat talking, '_a monster'_ he thought.

'Monster? You're not a monster, you were simply misfortunate. You've got a great mind, perhaps worthy of Ravenclaw but you also have a great deal of bravery to deal with what you do every day of your life and then especially that one day a month. Hm, yes, better be... GRYFFINDOR!' The hat shouted the last word for the whole school to hear and cheers erupted from the house table while polite claps were given from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff.

Remus saw Sirius waving him over so he took a seat beside him; he was glad he had at least one boy he knew in his house. Much to Remus' surprise and pleasure, James and Peter were also placed in Gryffindor and so the four boys sat together. After the headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore, who was as grand looking as Remus had read, had said a few words, the feast appeared on the tables. Remus was amazed, he'd never seen so much food in his life. Despite all the food available, Remus helped himself to what he would have got at home, a small spoonful of mashed potato, some bread with a tiny bit of butter and a glass of water; enough to see him through. He hadn't realised but the other boys had been staring at him until now,

'Is that all you're having?' Sirius asked.

Remus looked up startled, 'er yes?'

'Why?! Look at all this food, get as much as you want!' James exclaimed.

'Yeah you are scarily skinny mate, and you're ridiculously tall too!' Sirius said.

'This is all I want thank you,' Remus said politely. He finished his bread, drank the remaining water and then sat there in silence, satisfied that he'd just eaten enough to live.

When the majority of students had finished, Remus had been sat there for twenty minutes, the prefect for Gryffindor stood and collected the first years to show them to their common room. The group walked through the large, oak doors and up many flights of stone stairs until they reached the tower that housed the Gryffindors. The prefect said the password, 'silencio' and the group were granted access to the common room. Remus couldn't believe his eyes. The room was circular and decorated in red and gold, the house colours, and had a glowing fire emitting warmth to the room. There were window seats, tables and comfy red sofas that looked as if you could sink into them. There were stairs leading off to the left, the girls' dormitories, and to the right, the boys' dormitories. Overall, Remus couldn't wait to get settled. They were shown where their dorms were before being told that they had an hour to do what they wanted before getting to bed.

Remus decided the first thing he'd do in his hour would be to go and look at his dorm. The first thing he noticed when he walked into the dorm was that his belongings were already placed beside one of the four poster beds. He sat down on said bed and straightaway he noticed how comfy the bed was and how soft the sheets. Remus peered round and noticed that three of the four of the beds were occupied. He felt a mixture of relief and worry when he realised that the bed were taken by none other than the three boys he'd met earlier; James, Sirius and Peter. As if hearing their names, the three walked into the dorm chatting away. Upon noticing Remus, Sirius opened his mouth to talk,

'The other boy isn't staying with us now so it's just us four and we have a spare bed.'

Remus just looked at them for a moment and then nodded as his way of saying 'ok.' He stood up, gathered his pyjamas and wash things and went into the bathroom to change. While he was gone, a conversation took place, unheard by Remus.

'Hey, what's up with him?' asked Peter having got more comfortable with Sirius and James throughout the evening,

'I'm not sure, I wonder why he didn't just get changed in here like we have,' said Sirius.

'Just leave it guys, he's probably just shy,' reasoned James.

Remus came out of the bathroom having changed into his night clothes, but keeping his skin well covered, and got straight into bed, drawing the curtain around him. Peter had soon dozed off but James and Sirius were still awake. While having their conversation, they were unaware that Remus was still awake and could hear every word they said,

'I really am confused about that Remus boy,' James said.

'Me too, he seems a bit weird to me,' Sirius replied.

'Yeah, he just doesn't talk and he keeps himself all covered up,' James said.

'Like I want to be friends with him but he's making it so difficult.'

'Yeah, I know what you mean. Well I'm going to sleep now, we'll speak about it in the morning. Goodnight.'

'Goodnight.'

And that's when Remus made his decision. Whilst lying in his bed in the Gryffindor tower he decided to use some of that courage he apparently had and try his absolute best to be nice to the other boys and to be talkative. He decided he was tired of cowering at the sight of company, something he'd been well taught to do at home, and he promised himself he was going to make some friends.


End file.
